


Missing Piece

by shk_514



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst, Crimes & Criminals, Friendship/Love, Investigations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:20:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25766602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shk_514/pseuds/shk_514
Summary: Shownu a shy clumsy police newbie joins the Task Force under the lead of great officer Yoo Kihyun who has no interest in a new partner that he must "babysit". Together with their Task Force they stumble across an interesting case they now need to solve together.
Relationships: Son Hyunwoo | Shownu/Yoo Kihyun
Comments: 16
Kudos: 77





	1. First Case

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I am back with a new story. This time again it is a twitter Au I started but never finished. I decided to move it here and finally finish it.  
> Disclaimer : All cases in the story are a combination from my imagination, cases I had to deal with in uni, seen movies or tv shows.
> 
> Triggering Warnings : Violence , Graphic

To say that Shownu was nervous was a clear. It was his first day at work and he was nervous about it. He was so nervous that he almost missed his phone ringing. The screen showed his best friend name Hyungwon. He picked up his phone to answer.

  
_“Yo Hyung, are you ready?”_ he heard Hyungwon say on the other line. Shownu was not really sure about it.

“I don’t know” he responded nervously. Hyungwon sighed he knew that Shownu was doubting himself.

 _“You worked hard for this, Hyung”_ he tried to encourage him.

“Yes, but I don’t want mess up on my first day”

_“You won’t”_

Shownu chuckled at that “I already went out of the house with my shirt wrong buttoned and two different pairs of shoes”

Hyungwon laughed picturing how Shownu must have looked like _“Stop being nervous. You are good at this. You will do well, and you will be a great addition to the team”_

“Haven’t you said that no one made it as your leaders’ partner?” Shownu asked his friends and Hyungwon confirmed it once again.

“And how am I supposed to make it then?”

_“You will do great and if not, you can just join the regular Police”_

Shownu shook his head although Hyungwon couldn’t really see him “You know how much I want to be in your task force. I am impressed by your work”

 _“Then don’t give up no matter how hard Kihyun makes it for you”_ Hyungwon advised and Shownu sighed.

“I wish we could go work together” Shownu said he was grateful that he had to chance to work his best friend.

 _“Tomorrow , you bear”_ Hyungwon chuckled _“but today you need to meet Chief Wang first and I cant be late or Kihyun will kill me”_ Shownu just hummed and they bid goodbye.

* * *

  
**X- Group Chat (Task Force)**

> **Min:** Sooo Hyungwon do you wanna show us a pic of your friend who is joining the team today?
> 
> **Kihyun:** Instead of texting how about hurrying up so we can get to work in tim **e**
> 
> **Kyun:** I wanna see the picture too *cute smiley*
> 
> **Kihyun:** Stop acting cute 
> 
> **Kyun:** I am not acting cute! I am cute 
> 
> **Joo:** Yes, you are, and I want to see the pic too btw
> 
> **Wonnie:** *picture of Shownu* 
> 
> **Min:** Ohhh he looks hot 
> 
> **Kyun:** Wow 
> 
> **Wonho:** I have seen him on your twitter! He looks nice
> 
> **Joo:** he looks cool, hyung
> 
> **Kihyun:** He is average
> 
> **Min:** Liaaar. He is a 10/10. Wonnie is he still single?
> 
> **Wonnie:** Yeees
> 
> **Min:** ohhhhh
> 
> **Kihyun:** Lee Minhyuk no dating of colleagues allowed
> 
> **Min:** I was not playing anything. I do not even know him yet
> 
> **Wonho:** Sure
> 
> **Joo:** Can we have a team gathering after work to celebrate the newbies arrival? 
> 
> **Kyun:** You and your team gatherings. Are we going to do them every time we get a newbie?
> 
> **Min:** Which is every week since Kihyun always give them a hard time and they quit
> 
> **Wonho:** I really hope this guy still stay permanently
> 
> **Wonnie:** He is good 
> 
> **Kihyun:** We will see that 
> 
> **Wonnie:** Do not give him a hard time, Ki 
> 
> **Kihyun:** I will not give him a pass just bc he is your bestie or something
> 
> **Joo:** No need for a free pass, just be nice … For once! So team gathering?
> 
> **Kihyun:** If he makes it through the day lol
> 
> **Wonnie:** Ki…
> 
> **Kihyun:** Anyways y´all texting I hope you all on your way or at work bc we have still a case to finish **  
>   
>  **

* * *

After Shownu got his shirt fixed and got the right pairs of shoes he arrived at the Main Office on time. He was currently sitting in the Office of the Chief waiting for him to be welcomed. He was nervous. He entered police school rather late after a career change. He did very good during training always being one of the Top 3 of class but he got attention for being clumsy and shy. That was quite a disadvantage in this profession but that did not stop him from pursuing it. Having a friend that already worked in the field encouraged him a lot and give him some insight even though Hyungwon was super secretive about ongoing investigations or details. Despite the secrecy the success and the work of the Special Task Force was well known in the police world especially between trainees. It became his ambition to become part of the team. So right when he finished training, he applied for the Task Force and got accepted. His luck.

In this moment, the Chief Wang entered the room and Shownu stood up to greet him.

" Hello Officer Son" Chief Wang said. Shownu loved hearing `Officer ‘in front of his name. "I am happy that you are now part of our force. Your application was outstanding" greeting Shownu back before sitting down. Shownu did the same.

"It’s an honor to be given the opportunity to work for such an amazing Team like the X-ray Team" Shownu responded sincerely.

Chief Wang laughed "You will be a great fit I can see it" and Shownu smiled shyly " but I have to be honest with you. There is a reason why no one of Yoo's assigned partners stayed in the team permanently. He can be demanding, and it takes a lot to earn his earn his trust"

Shownu looked at him a little bit intimidated.

"Excuse me, I didn't want to scare you of right away" Chief Wang said nervously. He really needed someone to stay permanently this time. "The rest of the team his very lovely. I heard you are acquainted with Officer Chae"

Shownu nodded "He is my friend" 

"Well then he will surely help you to adjust and Yoo Kihyun isn’t that bad" the Chief Wang explained and Shownu acknowledged it. 

"Let’s head over the HQ so you can get to know the team"

The HQ of X-Ray was right across of the Main Office. It was an old factory that was renovated. The main hall was filled with 7 desks and a huge whiteboard. Every desk had a pc and phone while one table was especially filled with tech and gadgets. Shownu was surprised that no one was at their desk. _Were they already working on a case?_

Chief Wang saw the questioning eyes of the newbie and told him that they were probably in the kitchen getting some coffee while Kihyun was at the conference room that they now reached. Shownu took a deep breath. He wanted to make a good impression to his team leader.

They entered the room and Kihyun scanned the newbie critically which intimidated him.

Chief Wang rolled his eyes " Here is your new partner. His name is Son Hyunwoo but assume you read his file"

"I didn't. I have an unsolved murder case on the desk. I really don’t have the time to read the file of someone of who will leave us soon anyways" Kihyun replied sternly.

Shownu gulped the man was scary “Sir, ehm I well I am here to... stay. Yes, to stay. And you can call me Shownu"

Kihyun looked at him with a frown "Well that sounds convincing" he said sarcastically "And I will call you Officer Son. I am Lead Officer Yoo, but I guess you already know that"

Shownu gulped again and nodded while the Chief looked nervously between them.

"I assume you are work ready" Kihyun asked the newbie to which Shownu nodded again to which Kihyun said " The shy type, sweet" rolling his eyes.

  
"Follow me out. I am introducing you to the rest of the team and you are getting your stuff so we can start investigating." the leader said before they could leave Chief Wang grabbed Kihyun’s hand and whispered "be nice to him". Kihyun just mentioned to Shownu to follow him who did exactly that.

The walk to the main hall was short and silent but the air was tensed. Kihyun’s presence was intimidating the new officer.

Arrived in the main hall everyone was sitting on their table he even could spot Hyungwon who now grinned at him. Easing him a little bit. 

"Team X-Ray" Kihyun said loud and he got everyone’s attention. "That’s our newbie Son Hyunwoo. He will work with us as my partner"

"That’s the 20th in one year and a half" Changkyun mumbled.

And another said " uhu he is even hotter in real life"

  
Kihyun ignored the comments and continued " You know Hyungwon, right?" Shownu nodded "Next to him that’s Wonho his partner" Shownu was surprised how buff the guy was. " The man who called you hot is our profiler Minhyuk"

"Hey, I am a forensic psychologist get the facts right" the man in question argued.

"Whatever, lastly we have Changkyun our forensic scientist and Jooheon our technical operator. You will get all your stuff from him. Get it so we can start."

Everyone greeted the newbie very cheerful and friendly which put Shownu at ease. Wonho even told him that he hoped that he would stay permanently. Everyone got back at their work and Shownu approached Jooheon.

" Hey Jooheon"

"Oh, hey Officer Son" he greeted.

"You can call me Shownu" the newbie correct him immediately and the technical operator nodded.

"Well Shownu here is your Badge, your work gun and here is your work phone I already downloaded WhatsApp on it and put you into our group chat its crypted so you can write work related things there but we talk about random stuff too hihi. Ahhh and your desk his next to Kihyun’s. Your pc is working and that is a paper with your logins for all databases. OhhWelcome to the team" Jooheon explained and Shownu thankfully took all his things. He got suited himself on his desk when Kihyun told everyone to gather.

Everyone gathered around Kihyun’s desk.

"So, do we have any news on our case?" Kihyun asked. Changkyun nodded. Shownu looked at Hyungwon who was standing next to him.

"What’s the case?" he whispered to him. Minhyuk seemed to hear him.

"It’s a murder case. The culprit has killed 3 women in 3 months the case was transferred to us after the third murder." he explained.

"The culprit has completely disfigured the women. Making it in possible to identify the women. No fingerprints. No facial recognition or dental comparisons. All other identifications found no matches in our databases" Changkyun continued.

"The culprit himself has not left any trace too. They took all the cloth of the women but there is no indication of sexual abuse on the woman" Wonho added.

"So Minhyuk concluded that the culprit is more focused on the act of killing and his ritual surrounding it more than feeling after" it was now Hyungwon to talk.

"Making the identity of the women impossible to investigate tells us that the identity of the women would lead us to the culprit immediately" Jooheon added. Hyunwoo took all the information and it was kinda overwhelming. 

"Is that enough info Officer Son? Our culprit is ruthless and the time between the murders have decreased. So, we need to be faster!" Kihyun said "So Changkyun what have you found?"

"Oh yes I got the rest of the forensic report and there was something that jumped into my eyes" the forensic scientists said.

"What is it?" Hyungwon asked curiously.

" Weird marks have been found on the top of the footprints that the local officers left but they were under ours..." Changkyun explained.

"Which means someone was on the crime scene before you guys arrived... Someone who isn’t from the police... The culprit was at the crime scene again " Hyunwoo concluded.

"Which means the culprit was scared that we could find something that they missed. But how did they entered the crime scene? It was under observation” Wonho asked.

  
Kihyun thought about it "Changkyun, you called them weird marks. How are they weird?"

"Not made by human or animal"

Kihyun wanted to ask another question but Shownu beat him to it " Jooheon is there a device that could possibly take or erase evidence from the crime scene without getting too much attention? " it was the same question the leader wanted to ask.

"Yes its possible if Changkyun shows me the forensic report I could do a little of research but what is sure is that they definitely had to manually control the device so maybe the park officer who observed the crime scene noticed a person with a controller"

Kihyun nodded "Okay Changkyun and Jooheon look for a possible device and all people that bought it. Wonho and Hyungwon get me the park officer here so we can interview him. Minhyuk get ready for the interview." Everyone nodded.

"And me?" Shownu asked shyly.

"You go back to your desk" the leader replied annoyed.

"But-"

" But nothing! you are a newbie. Desk" Kihyun commanded. Everyone looked at him with pity. Wonho patted his shoulder and said " good work"

* * *

Changkyun and Jooheon could not find any device on the market that could have possibly made those marks on the crime scene.

Minhyuk, Hyungwon, Wonho, Kihyun and Hyunwoo were watching the Park Officer in the interview room who was nervously pacing through the room.

"His name his Kim Yugyeom. We tried to ask him briefly, but he doesn't seem to remember anything which seem to be mostly due to stress and pressure" Hyungwon briefed the other.

"There must be a way for him to remember" Wonho mumbled.

"I could try CI. It’s especially effective with witnesses " Minhyuk said.

"CI? " Shownu asked.

"Cognitive Interview. It’s a way of interviewing in which we try to recall memories with retrieval cues. Just see" Kihyun said while Minhyuk entered the room.

"Hey Yugyeom" Minhyuk said.

The appearance of Minhyuk seemed to stress the park officer even more.

"I don’t remember, I don’t remember" he mumbled and Minhyuk calmed down first.

"Hey, let me try something okay!?" Yugyeom nodded.

"How was the weather?" Minhyuk asked.

"I think the weather cast said -" but Yugyeom was cut off by Minhyuk.

"No! how did YOU perceived the weather?"

The park officer was perplexed but he descripted how he perceived the weather and the smell and other detail opening his memory more and more. He suddenly said that he remembered seeing a man with a controller and a wounded hand.

" That’s our man" Shownu said.

  
After they found an indicator of the culprit at the crime scene Kihyun sent Changkyun to the crime scene to look for something they possibly have missed in faith that the culprit hadn’t find it too and they were successful he could find a business card that seemed to be from the victim. It was a from exclusive escort service and the victim seemed to be Jang Li an escort lady. Thankfully the service documented every customer. Together with the info that he must be injured they could find only one suspect that was injured and got escort service from Jang Li.

"Kwon Woojin is our man. He lives here in Seoul and he fits the culprit’s profile." Wonho said.

"Officer Son, now it’s your time to shine we are arresting the Bastard" Kihyun said and Shownu got up immediately. Finally, he was allowed to do something after hours of watching others work. 

"Please be careful we don’t have legit evidence so if you don't arrest him properly, we have to let him go because we did not follow the rules" Minhyuk reminded them. 

"I know my job" Kihyun acknowledged Minhyuks reminder " Hyungwon and Wonho you are backing us up"  
And they got to work.

* * *

Kihyun and Shownu arrived at Kwons residence knocking on his door while Hyungwon and Wonho were on standby.

They knocked but no one responded. Kihyun noticed that the door was not closed so he opened it slightly. Just when Hyunwoo wanted to yell if someone was there Kihyun hushed him.

"Do you hear that?" Kihyun asked bringing out his gun.

"What?"

Kihyun mentioned for him to get his gun out and to be silent. This was the moment where Shownu could here muffled pleads and a sadistic laugh. Kwon Woojin had already found a new victim and the officers had basically caught in the act. There was a door that lead to the basement from where the sound came from.

Being too nervous Shownu stumbled on the way to the door making a loud thud. Kihyun looked at him angry "You can’t be for real"  
Shownu stood up and apologized to which Kihyun shook his head.

" We don’t have the time for this. Get your ass down there" Kihyun mentioned to him to follow him downstairs.

Shownu was nervous on his way downstairs. Even if it was just a couple of seconds it felt like an eternity. The sound of torture increased, and he feared the real image. Many questions going through his head. _What if they could not safe the victim? What if they could not catch Kwon? What if anyone got injured?_ But there was no more time for that because they reached their destination.

The scene was a whole gruesome. A woman face almost beat up tied up on a chair. Kwon standing in front of her with a tool.

"Kwon Woojin you are arrested for 3 murders and attempted murder" Kihyun said with a gun pointed at the culprit. Shownu was just standing behind him gun up not knowing what to do.Kwon ran behind the victim threatening them to kill her immediately if they don’t let him leave through the back door which was blocked by Shownu. 

Shownu still did not knew what do to. _Should he shoot?_ Not possible... he couldn’t shoot precisely enough without hurting the victim too. Kwon was shielded too much by the woman. Kihyun seemed to have the same problem.

"Kwon, let her go" he screamed

"No let me go" Kwon screamed the women in his arms crying.

 _What should he do?_ Shownu was still complementing. _Should he give the door free since no one was able to give a safe shot?_ Kihyun seemed to notice Shownu turmoil and shook his head. He was supposed to stand still.

Right in this moment the door broke open distracting Kwon. Kihyun screamed " Son down" and he did so. A gun was fired, and Kwon was hit in the shoulder letting the victim go in pain. Kihyun used the moment to capture Kwon and Hyungwon ran to the victim to help and secure her. Shownu looked up to see that Wonho had made the shot. 

"How?" Shownu asked perplexed. 

"Other than us two Wonho is a sniper. So, he knows how to shot even in such a situation" Kihyun huffed taking Kwon away. 

"But how did you know that we are in danger and that we would be here? " 

"Before you guys got in Kihyun gave us a sign to activate our earpiece we could hear everything through your mics and planned this" Hyungwon explained laughing.  
Shownu felt so stupid. He did a terrible job on his first on field job. 

"It’s okay it’s the first time" Wonho patted Shownu before exiting the house.

* * *

> **X- Ray Group Chat**
> 
>   
>  *Son has joined the chat*
> 
>   
>  **Joo:** Case closed
> 
> **Min:** Interesting fact that the culprit had a hatred against escort ladies that looked like his mother bcs his mom was an escort lady too who has left her family for one of her costumers 
> 
> **Wonho:** I am glad that we could prevent another death 
> 
> **Joo:** The world is a little bit safer now 
> 
> **Kihyun:** Everyone! Great work
> 
> **Wonnie:** Ohhh the leader is getting soft
> 
> **Kihyun:** There is not such a thing
> 
> **Kyun:** Soo newbie how was your first day?
> 
> **Son:** Overwhelming! There is still lots of things to learn
> 
> **Kihyun:** Indeed
> 
> **Wonho:** Aww Shownu did great! Other things will come with the time
> 
> **Wonnie:** Yes, and getting used with the team
> 
> **Joo:** Soo are we celebrating and the closed case with a team gathering?
> 
> **Son:** Team gathering?
> 
> **Kyun:** Yes, we eat, drink, and sing karaoke tgt
> 
> **Son:** Sounds fun, I guess
> 
> **Kihyun:** It is not, its chaos
> 
> **Min:** Aww we aren’t that bad
> 
> **Wonho:** ohh you are
> 
> **Wonnie:** But Shownu should witness how such a gathering is
> 
> **Kihyun:** Its whatever for me as long I don’t have to drive anyone home 
> 
> **Min** : What me too?
> 
> **Kihyun:** Yes, you too
> 
> **Min:** Alright *rolling eyes emoji*
> 
> **Wonho:** So we are doing it?
> 
> **Joo:** Yes, 10 pm our usual place 

* * *

The team gathering was going on with lots of drinking, eating, and singing. Kihyun was right it was a chaos but Shownu did not mind it. It was chaos but fun. Changkyun and Minhyuk were battling each other on the karaoke machine when Shownu decided to approach Kihyun who was sitting in a corner observing everyone.

"Hey" he said to the leader.

"Hey" Kihyun replied.

"They are really wild" Shownu tried to start a conversation but Kihyun just hummed.

"Listen we will be partners and I just want to make things comfortable between us" Shownu admitted.

"I am comfortable" Kihyun said " You may have great deduction skills, but you lack skills on the field. Unsuitable as my partner. You won’t last a long time."

Shownu frowned. _How could he judge him so fast?_ " What makes you think that?"

"My gut feeling"

"I don’t believe that you are the cold guy. I see how you act around the rest of the team. I don’t know what make you lose trust in new people in your life but I can see that this isn't your true nature" Shownu revealed his observations. Kihyun felt caught but he didn't want to showcase that.

Kihyun moved closer to Shownu challenging him " And how comes it that you have changed your career path? You know I finally read your file and your reasons are bull. So, what is your secret?"

Kihyun had hit a wound. Shownu balled his fingers in a fist trying not to lose his composure. Kihyun noticed that too." One more reason not to trust you. So aren't suitable"

After a small silence Kihyun distant himself thinking he won the little challenge but right then Shownu spoke up " I will show you that I am suitable enough partner as you. That I am good enough for this team. I will earn your trust. 

He stood up without waiting for Kihyuns answers. Kihyun smirked looking at the newbie. 

" This is going to be interesting" he mumbled.


	2. The semester curse

Shownu was deep in his sleep when he heard a distant ringing. He thought he was dreaming when he noticed that the ringing did not stop. He opened bis eyes slowly recognizing that the ringing came from his phone. He half-sleepy answered the phone.

"Hyung, where the hell are you?" he heard Hyungwon scream on the other line. Immediately he remembered something he looked at the screen and noticed the time.

"Fuck" he exclaimed " I overslept oh my god"

"What the hell?" Hyungwon was in disbelief. How can he be late on his second day at work? "Ki is going to kill you"

"I know" Shownu screamed getting out of bed to get ready.

"Hurry"

"That’s what I am doing right know"

"No, you are talking me" Hyungwon screamed at him.

"Stop stressing me" Shownu yelled back.

"Shut up I am saving your life right now. I am hanging up" Hyungwon responded and immediately hung up. 

* * *

After an eventful morning Shownu finally made it to the HQ finding everyone standing in front of the whiteboard. He came in panting which caught the attention of everyone. Minhyuk, Changkyun and Jooheon where laughing while Wonho looked at him in pity. Hyungwon just shrugged while Kihyun looked completely displeased. Shownu took place next to Minhyuk.

"Look who graced us with his presence" Changkyun snickered and Shownu just scratched his head.

"How is everyone fit? You were absolutely drunk last night" Shownu asked Minhyuk in a whisper. Minhyuk grinned at him but before he could respond Kihyun spoke

"Because they are professionals" Kihyun said with raised eyebrows. "Unlike you it seems"

Shownu was taken back he didn't expect for Kihyun to hear him, so he bowed to apologize. Shownu was bowing too low and fast that he banged against the table.

"Fuck" he screamed. When he raised his head, he could see how everyone with exception of Kihyun was holding their hands before their mouth.

"Hyung! Are you okay?" Hyungwon ran towards the newbie.

Shownu nodded but he was visibly in pain.

"You should let that get checked out. That was a loud thud" Wonho said wincing like he was the one in pain.

Shownu shook his head " I am okay... I already wasted a lot of time"

"Indeed, and we have new a case... So" Kihyun said not seeming to care.

"Kihyun hyung.... We all have been late once too. This seems really painful" Jooheon interfered. 

Kihyun crossed his arms "Yeah but not on the second day of work and he said he is fine, right?" he said now looking at Shownu who nodded in confirmation. "So, the case..." the leader pressed. 

Wonho sighed but opened the file " We have a case of students who went missing" 

"Why aren’t the police taking the case?" Jooheon asked.

"They are not getting anywhere. Every semester beginning a student is reported missing. It happened three times over the last year and half, but the new semester started and a new disappearance was reported" Wonho continued putting pictures of the missing people on the whiteboard. " Park Jinyoung, Im Jaebum, Jeon Somin and our new case Kim Sejeong. 

" Any connections between the missing person? "

"They all enrolled to Seoul National University. Attended all pre-courses and where spotted at the semester start ceremony but disappeared after. Only difference is that they enrolled in different semesters." Hyungwon explained who had gotten the case with his partner.

"That’s a pattern. No other connections? Like same interests or hanging out in the same crowds?" Jooheon asked.

Wonho shook his head "They were newbies and hadn't made many friends yet"

"Who reported them missing? Could they have left on their own? " It was now Minhyuks turn to ask.

"Their families or friends after they haven't heard anything from them and now that’s the interesting part of the case" Hyungwon now saying while hanging another picture on the board." This was found in the dorm rooms of all missing students."

"It’s a note with a code" Shownu remarks.

"Is that blood?" Jooheon said pointing on the red mark on the note.

"Yes, it’s always the blood of the missing person. Like you see the note only contains the code which is 21-9243138325223 and blood marks" Wonho explained.

"The blood was neatly distributed on the paper, so I assume it was placed there on purpose" Changkyun noted.

"So, someone makes them disappear and leaves a note. To what? so we can find them? why would the kidnapper want them to be found? " Jooheon asked.

"It’s not that they want us to find them it’s probably a warning" Shownu said thinking.

"What do you mean?"

"There must be a reason why the culprit is following a certain pattern. Why the culprit is choosing these students? It’s a warning to the possible next victim." the newbie explained.

"Which would mean they all have something in common and the culprit is not choosing his victim randomly" Minhyuk said.

"We should decode the code maybe that will give us a hint" Kihyun said.

"I will work on it. I will go through the police database and compare it to every code that has been decoded by the police and every decoding pattern known" the technical operator said immediately going to work. Kihyun nodded. 

" Wonho and Hyungwon go and talk to the friends and family of the previous victims. Minhyuk go through the Universities rumors, cases and stories that might could be connected to our case.Changkyun checked out the forensic reports and me and Officer Son will go to visit the new victim’s dorm." Kihyun said immediately leaving after giving his instructions. 

Shownu who was a little bit slow did not notice and had to run after him. He could hear a good luck being screamed after him.

* * *

Kihyun and Shownu were now sitting in Kihyun’s car. Silence surrounding them but that was okay for Shownu since he felt shy to say anything anyways and his head was hurting. They stayed like that for a while until Kihyun dared to talk.

"You know the warning thought is interesting" he said shortly "but why is that more possible than the culprit challenging us?"

Shownu was surprised that Kihyun showed interest in his conclusions. He didn't expect that they would even talk on their way to the dormitory.

"If the culprit was challenging us, he would be searching a way to address us more. From how the disappearance happened and how there is no obvious connection between the missing students he wants to tell us the why. It’s not about finding the victims it’s about preventing more students to be kidnapped." Shownu explained holding his head from time to time.

" Makes sense but we not only have to protect other students from getting kidnapped, but we have to find the victims too. Death or Alive" the other replied.

Shownu nodded "I know. Do you think they are still alive?" messaging his temples. Kihyun looked at him with a little bit of concern.

"We can’t know but the fact that the culprit is not making any demands seems to be a bad sign to me" he responded. Shownu did not replied and just closed his eyes to rest a little bit.

Kihyun sighed " Maybe I was a little bit harsh this morning but you don’t seem that well maybe you should really get checked out. The hospital is on the way"

"It’s okay. We have a case to solve right?"

"You really don’t look well, Shownu. You look pale and-"

"Oh Shownu? I thought I was Officer Son and you Lead Officer Kihyun" Shownu interfered cheeky but still weak. Kihyun was taken back. He was surprised by this man’s duality.

"I mean Officer Son... Anyway, I was saying that you look hurt."

"I am okay, Kihyun" Shownu said winking "and we arrived you can park here"

Taken back again Kihyun didn't respond and did what he was told him

  
The dormmate of the last victim showed them around the room while explaining how Kim Sejeong had disappeared.

"We were supposed to talk about the division of housework so I was waiting for her to comeback from the semester ceremony, but she never did" the roommate said.

"When did you figured out that something was wrong?" Kihyun asked.

"I checked her room and I found a note with numbers and blood. I called the police immediately... 3 students already went missing like this. We call it the semester curse" the roommate explained.

"Where you... home the" Shownu paused and Kihyun looked at him with a frown. "Where you home all day that day?"

"No, I work at the organization committee but I didn't check here room when I came back because I assumed that she would be home later cause the freshman’s usually party afterwards" she explained.

"So, she could have returned before you and then left or has been kidnapped then" Kihyun said.

"Or she never left"

The roommate shook her head " We definitely left the house together and couldn't she have disappeared at the ceremony!? " 

" It’s unlikely" Kihyun said.

"And why is that?" the girl asked curiously.

"Because of the note" both officers said at the same time.

"This room his at the 5th floor. No signs of violent entry. We doubt that Sejeong has written the note herself. All notes had the same handwriting which indicates the same culprit. Unless Sejeong is the culprit which is unlikely." Kihyun continued.

" Which takes us to the conclusion that... "Shownu paused once again. 

" Are you okay? " Kihyun asked now seriously concerned. Shownu just nodded but in reality, he was saw starting to see blurry and things seem to spin but he didn't want to give up yet. He had said he wanted to be a suitable partner for Kihyun. No way was he going to admit his pain at his second day at work. Not during an ongoing investigation. 

"We come to the conclusion that Sejeong must have let the culprit in. Meaning that she probably knew her kidnapper" he finished his sentence. 

"Also, there were no signs of a fight or something. Maybe she left with the culprit voluntary. She was probably deceived" Kihyun added. 

"She noticed that she was being kidnap later on. We could have a secondary crime scene" Shownu said. 

"Any theories how and where?" Kihyun wanted to ask Shownu but the moment he looked that the newbie collapsed. 

"Fuck, Shownu" Kihyun tried to catch him without success. Kihyun panicked a little bit there was no way he could carry Shownu to the hospital alone there was no other than to call the paramedics. Kihyun didn't want to make such a big thing out of it but he had no other choices. 

"Please call the paramedics" Kihyun said to the shocked roommate.

* * *

Kihyun informed the other team members after they arrived at the hospital. Shownu had a mild concussion and had to rest a little. Just after updating the members he received a phone call from Minhyuk. He sighed he knew that his best friend wanted to give him a hard time for being so strict with Shownu but nevertheless he answered the phone.

" Yes Minhyuk?"

" You have everything under control?" the forensic psychologist asked him.

" Yes, I am sitting next to his bed reading some emails and waiting for him to wake up" Kihyun answered him.

Minhyuk chuckled at that " I am surprised that you didn't left him there"

Kihyun huffed " Why should I?"

"I don't know maybe because you don't like him and because you are a workaholic"

Kihyun got defensive "That's not true.... I don't dislike him... I am just adjusting"

"Which is progress for you"

_What was that supposed to mean?_

"He is my partner I can't leave him alone"

"That’s not something you would have said for your previous partners" Minhyuk said and Kihyun just knew that his friend was smirking on the other line.

"What do you mean?" Kihyun asked annoyed and confused.

"Yes, specifically clumsy! That’s why we are here in the first place" Kihyun said rolling his eyes.

"I meant that he is special because he is suitable as your partner"

"You can't know that yet"

" I like him, and I know you will too"

Kihyun sighed. Shownu had charmed his way in the heart of the members in only two days "Don’t get too attached or its going to hurt if he leaves"

"Is that what you are scared of?"

Kihyun huffed " Who said that I am scared?"

"He is special" Minhyuk answered like it was obvious.

" Who said he is going to leave?" Minhyuk countered.

"They all do" Kihyun said coldly.

" Because you don't give them a reason to stay. Try to be nicer this time and try to let him in. Like that you will assure a great relationship" Minhyuk advised his friend.

"Why do I feel like you are talking about something else then a work relationship?"

"Think whatever you want but I think I was clear"

"Maybe..."

“Good Luck”

  
Kihyun put away his phone to think about Minhyuks words. Maybe the forensic psychologist was right. Maybe it was time to open his heart and let things flow. Shownu was capable, even if clumsy, he was a good fit for the team with his great deduction skills. His file was neat too nothing Kihyun had to worry about except of the unexplainable change of career. _Why had Shownu changed his profession if he had a bright future. Why starting at zero again?_ Kihyun mind was racing and it did not help that the newbie was mumbling in his sleep that he was sorry. First Kihyun thought he was referring to the events of the day but he seemed to refer to past events since he keep mentioning older dates......

An hour later the newbie woke up asking about his whereabouts.

"Hospital, you have a mild concussion and you pushed yourself too much. You got pain killers. You are allowed to work but nothing straining" Kihyun informed him.

"How long was I out?" Shownu asked a little bit disoriented.

"Couple of hours"

Shownu was about to say something but Kihyun stop him "It’s okay everyone else is working on the case they got it covered. Just rest until the doctor discharges you"

Shownu acknowledged Kihyun’s words and closed his eyes to rest. After some minutes in silence Kihyun spoke up.

"Shownu, why did you change your career path?" Kihyun asked and the newbie looked at the leader surprised that he called him by his name again.

"Because I wanted too. No special reason"

Kihyun frowned " I don't believe you. You were a choreographer who was about to take over a dance studio that works with the best idol groups. Why would anyone give up such a future for career that is so uncertain?" Shownu sat up to now face Kihyun.

" With due all respect, I don’t think that my reasons are any of your business" Shownu warned him slightly but Kihyun didn't seemed to get the message and continued to ask. He completely had gotten into investigation mood. Forgetting that the man in front of him was his partner not a suspect.

"What happened in Winter 2016?"

"What?" Shownu said shocked.

"You were talking in your sleep saying you were sorry, and you keep referring to Christmas 2016. That’s a little bit over 3 years ago. So what happened?" Kihyun asked sternly.

"That’s none of your business because its private" Shownu started to get louder.

"Private? You are my partner, Shownu. How I am supposed to trust you?" Kihyun got equally louder. Shownu was mind-blown by Kihyun’s behavior.

" Partner? Shownu? I thought its Officer Son for you someone who is not worthy of being your partner and who will fail. " Shownu stood up angrily. Kihyun soften a little bit. 

" I am just trying to understand why" he said. 

"By interrogating me. In a hospital? While I have a concussion? Perfect timing, Lead Officer Yoo" Shownu continued. 

"But if you just told me we could check off that topic" Kihyun mumbled. 

"You don't understand. You don’t see what you did wrong" 

"Why are you getting so worked up if you have nothing to hide?" Kihyun asked immediately regretting his words. 

"I am done with this. I don’t own you an explanation " Shownu said disappointed leaving the room banging the door. 

Kihyun looked at the door regretting what he had done. He had done the opposite of what Minhyuk had told him.


	3. Trust Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning : Mentions of blood, violence and abduction

Hyunwoo ran out of his room completely mad. He could believe what just happened. _How could Kihyun treat him like some criminal?_ .He picked up his phone angrily dialing Hyungwon’s number who immediately picked up his phone.

“I am quitting” Shownu said still mad.

“What?” Hyungwon exclaimed confused “Aren’t you still at the hospital?”

“I discharged myself”

Hyungwon couldn’t believe it “Are you crazy?” he screamed at him “Have you lost your brain cells when you banged your head?”

Shownu huffed at that “I don’t have the energy to work with someone that treats me like a criminal”

Hyungwon sighed “Is this about Kihyun?”

“He fucking interrogated me in the hospital “

“About what?”

“My change of career” Shownu answered and Hyungwon sighed again. He knew that this was a sensitive topic for the older. 

“And that’s why you want to quit !?” he asked the newbie.

“Well I can’t work with someone who treats me like that. My past is none of his business”

“I know and I know it’s a sensitive topic but quitting?” Hyungwon tried to calm him down.

“Yes, I will just work as regular officer” Shownu said sadly.

 _He can’t be for real Hyungwon thought._ “But this Task Force was your goal”

“Not if I have work with him” Shownu said. There was no way he could work with Kihyun.

Hyungwon sighed “Every time it’s about this you get heated, hyung. Yes, it was wrong of him, but he is your partner and this part for your past is important for your present. Its understandable that he wants to know what made you into a police officer”

“But I don’t want to share... he should respect that”

“Agreed but that’s something that can be resolved through talking not quitting”

Shownu exhaled “Maybe you are right”

“I am and now come back to the HQ so you can rest”

“I have to talk to Kihyun first I guess”

Meanwhile Kihyun called Minhyuk to tell him about the fight with Shownu. He knew he would get scolded by him, but he needed to vent.

“Min, I fucked up” he said before the other could even greet him.

“What did you do?”

“Shownu left” Kihyun answered vaguely.

“Left how?” Minhyuk screamed dramatically “You are in a freaking hospital”

“He stormed out of the room and I think he discharged himself”

“What the fuck happened?”

Kihyun sighed closing his eyes he knew that Minhyuk was about to scream at him for being insensitive to the newbie “I pestered him about his past… Why he changed his career and everything”

Minhyuk face palmed at the team leader’s response. _How could he be so stupid?_ He let him know that “Kihyun! Are you out of your mind? Let put aside that the fucking timing is off…. Its none of your business”

Kihyun knew that he was wrong, but he still felt the need to defend himself “But we are partners and I thought that it could be important between the two of us”

“Do you think that he is a bad man? A danger for our team?” Minhyuk asked him.

“That’s not it”

“Then you have no right”

“I know” Kihyun said defeated “I just find it odd and the way he reacts to it …it kinda confirms”

“I told you to let him in not to force yourself on him.. He will tell you if he is ready”

“Hmm … I guess I have to apologize”

* * *

Shownu's past and the reason why he changed his career still haunted him. He got this question a lot when he trained to become a police officer and it set him off every time. He even got into a fight when someone did not stop asking him questions. After that fight incident, with some help, he learned how to react to this question which worked fine until now. That was what he avoided every time he started somewhere new.... him being confronted with his past. Same here with Kihyun pestering him with his past. It would be okay if he didn't feel like Kihyun doubted his capability right from the start. One his insecurities. One of the factors that made him change his profession. _How could he tell Kihyun if the team leader doubted his capability? Would he even acknowledge him if he knew?_ But Hyungwon had a point it was nothing to throw away his dream position for. It was something that we could solve in a peaceful talk. That was the reason why Shownu made his way back to his hospital room hoping that Kihyun would be still there.And he was. Seeing Shownu Kihyun sighed in relief. He was not a bad man. This was his partner even if he could not trust him fully yet. He somehow cared for the clumsy officer. He recognized that he had to put his irrational doubts aside and give their relationship space to grow. Eventually he would get answers to his questions then.

"Show - I mean Officer Son" Kihyun corrected himself. Shownu smiled.

"Shownu is okay, Lead Officer Kihyun" Shownu told him.

"Then you should call me Kihyun too, we are partners after all" Kihyun suggested.

Shownu looked down "Partners, yeah right" he mumbled but Kihyun had heard him.

"Listen, I know I didn't really gave you a chance as my partner in the beginning and it will take me sometime to fully get used to have a partner, to consider and care about more than myself while working but I will want our partnership to be a plus to our team and that only can work if we work well together." Kihyun said.

" And that’s only possible if we respect each other" Shownu said approaching the leader and looking into his eyes to show him how serious he was. "I get that you have trust issues, but I don’t like you pestering me about my past... If I am ready, I will share but that's something I have decide for myself"

Kihyun nodded also taking a step forward. There was not much space left between them "I am sorry for what I did. I was in no position to ask all these things about your past. Could you forgive me?"

Shownu stayed silent for a moment making Kihyun a little bit nervous. Kihyun wasn't the type to apologize.

"I do. I do forgive you" he said softly " And Kihyun?"

The leader looked at him waiting for him to continue.

"I don’t know why you have trust issue and I won't ask" Shownu searched for Kihyuns eyes "but I promise you will be able to trust me and I will never betray your trust. I will by your side" Kihyun stopped breathing. "as your partner" the newbie added to avoid making things awkward but Kihyun was still surprised by his words.

Maybe Minhyuk was right. Maybe Shownu was truly special.

When Kihyun and Shownu entered the HQ together Minhyuk and Hyungwon looked at them proudly. They knew that it meant that they were able to talk and put their differences aside. 

"Shownu hyung, aren't you on bed rest? " the youngest of the team asked.

"I am okay. I can work as long his not to exhausting"

Wonho patted him on the back " I am glad that you are okay" to which Shownu nodded gratefully. It was nice to know that his team cared even though he just worked there for 2 days. 

"Not to interfere but should we do a briefing?" Kihyun asked the team and everyone brought out their findings and approached the whiteboard.

"Okay I will start" Kihyun said "We talked to the roommate and we found out that Sejeong our last victim probably left with her kidnapper voluntary"

"What makes you think that?" Minhyuk asked.

"No signs of violent entry in the dorm and the timeline would support that theory too" Kihyun explained and Changkyun nodded.

"That fits to all the other crime scenes too. No signs that any sort of violent was applied there beside of the blood on the note" he added.

"So all the victims knew their kidnapper..."

"So, they have to have a connection to each other or does this culprit befriends with them on purpose?" Wonho asked now. 

"Like you mean that the culprit is the connection between them? That the culprit chooses his victims befriends with them and then kidnaps them?" Jooheon frowned thinking about it. 

"Sounds plausible... But on which base does the kidnapper choose his victims? " Kihyun questioned. "Hyungwon and Wonho could you find something about it while talking to the entourage of the past victims?" 

Both shook their heads. "Really, there is no connection between them."

Shownu who has been in thoughts the whole time finally spoke up. "There is something else that has been bothering me the whole time... How did the culprit placed the note if the victims left voluntary? I mean once would make sense we could assume that the victim simply did not noticed but all four of them !?That makes sense no to me"

All of them thought of what Shownu just had said.

"Their roommates! If they are the kidnappers or accomplices, they could have put the note there after coming home and then call the police." Hyungwon suddenly said. 

"Jooheon run through the databases of the university. Look if there are any connections between the roommates " Kihyun ordered him but Minhyuk stopped him. 

"I think I found something interesting there while being on Social Media .... The roommate of Sejeong was rumored to have been dating our first victim’s roommate when he disappeared" he said with a proud smile "Somins and Jaebums roommates played the main roles in the university's drama club"

That was a good new finding for the team. They previously only focused on direct connection between the victims and not of people around them where connected. 

" Wow that’s it!" Jooheon said " The roommate are a team of kidnappers who kidnap their newbie roommates"

"That explain why it seems like the victims left voluntary" Minhyuk said. 

"And the note... Shownu hyung theory. It could be a warning to people who apply to be their new roommates" Changkyun said excited that they had a breakthrough with the case. 

But Kihyun stopped his excitement "Lets calm down for a second these are just baseless conclusions. We don’t have any evidence" 

Shownu agreed with him" There are still a lot of questions left like... What is the motive? What does the code mean and how can they be sure that the person that are supposed be warned will even understand it? 

Kihyun looked at Shownu amazed that they had the same thoughts " Exactly. Jooheon how far are you with the code?" 

"Not even close" 

"Okay Changkyun help him. Maybe try thinking like some students. Minhyuk I want the roommates interviewed and I want a profile of each of them tomorrow. So, prepare yourself for it. The rest of us keeps investigating „ Kihyun ordered and dismissed everyone. 

Only Kihyun and Shownu left at the board. Kihyun took the chance to praise the newbie for his great inputs. " Shownu you did great at the briefing"

Shownu chuckled " I only thought out loud" 

"Well continue doing that then" Kihyun said ready to go back to his desk but Shownu approached Kihyun before he could leave. 

"Can I ask you something?" he whispered with a serious face. 

Kihyun nodded. No idea what the newbie could eventually ask. 

" Do you have anything cool to wear?" Shownu asked casually. 

Kihyun looked at him confused " Why are you asking?" 

Shownu grinned " Do you want to go partying with me tonight?" 

Kihyun looked at him surprised " We are on good terms, but I don’t date my colleagues sorry" 

Shownu laughed confusing Kihyun even more. "Sweet but that’s not quite it." 

Kihyun still not understood what was happening. 

"Shownu, what are you talking about?" 

"Will you trust me on this?" 

Kihyun thought about it. _Should he trust him on this?_


	4. Codes & Secrets

Kihyun was in his apartment looking for something nice to wear for whatever party Shownu was planning to take him. After he agreed on trusting Shownu at this matter they agreed that the newbie would pick him up at his apartment after work. He didn't know why but the whole scenario was making him nervous especially since he didn't know what was awaiting him.

After a while he decided for a dress shirt that was black and white leaving some buttons open combined with a small choker. He thought that it was a little bit daring especially since he was about to go out with his colleague who used to see him in more simply clothing. For his bottom he decided to wear black jeans.

He was fixing up his make-up when he got message from Shownu that he was already outside his apartment. 

He grabbed coat and went outside to find Shownu leaned against his car. Kihyun steps slowed down. He could not really grasp the picture in front of him. Shownu was dressed in all black. A black turtleneck paired with a black leather jacket and black jeans. As accessories he wore a silver necklace and hair styled up showing his forehead. It gave the Shownu who usually wore beige cord trousers with karo shirt a completely different aura. Kihyun had to admit that the man looked cool and hot. Kihyun took a deep breath and approached him. 

The newbie smiled at the team leader "Hey Kihyun, you look good! Are you ready to go? " 

And Kihyun blushed slightly and just nodded so Shownu mentioned for him to enter the car. After Shownu finally had took off the leader spoke up. 

"You look nice too, by the way" Kihyun admitted and Shownu grinned at him. "So, what are we doing today, Shownu?" 

"You know, I am older than you. You should call me hyung" the older proposed laughing. 

"I will think about it" the other replied a little bit embarrassed that he never addressed Shownu formally after they agreed on using their names. 

"No pressure" 

Kihyun continued looking at Shownu waiting for the answer to his previous question but the older was so concentrated that he didn't notice. Kihyun coughed so he could get his attention and it worked. 

Shownu glanced at him " Hmmm we are going to a student party" 

"What? I dressed up for some students?" Kihyun exclaimed. 

"You dressed up for someone? Were you hoping to get a date? In my presence?" the newbie teased.

Kihyun huffed "What no? But I wouldn't have put so much effort into dressing" 

"It’s a good thing. Sejeong's roommate has seen us. The different style in clothing could help us not to get noticed" Shownu replied.

"So I assume we are going there for work?" 

"Sure. Parties are the best place for gossip" Shownu said. 

" And we really had to go to a student party for gossip that we don’t even know if it could help us? " Kihyun asked rolling his eyes. 

"Students dent tell stuff too cops. But they will easily tell other students. Just have some fun while working" the older smirked. 

" With those kids?" 

"With me" Shownu replied softly "Let’s have a good time while working, alright?" 

Kihyun just nodded. _What had he gotten himself into?_

  
They were sitting by the bar having some non-alcoholic drinks while chatting with the bar keeper. While Shownu seemed relaxed Kihyun felt a little bit tensed by his surroundings. Young adults going crazy wasn't really his style. Shownu seemed to sense Kihyuns uneasiness and patted him on his shoulder encouraging him to relax. Just then Dance Monkey started playing and Shownu grabbed Kihyun’s hand.

"Let’s dance" he said and Kihyun looked at him in disbelief "We are here to work" he replied to Shownu request.

"While having fun" Shownu winked taking Kihyun to the dance floor.

Shownu started to make silly dance moves probably to ease up the leader but Kihyun just stepped from right to left.

"Hey, you can do more" the newbie yelled over the loud music. Kihyun just laughed that.

"Maybe I will if you show me some of your dance moves instead if your silly dance moves. I mean you are a professional in that area" he teased.

"You shouldn’t have asked me that" Shownu said "You won’t dare to dance afterwards because I am so good"

"Well, we will see" Kihyun said winking and Shownu started dancing professionally. Kihyun both regretted and applauded himself for asking Shownu to dance properly. His dance moves were fluid, precise and enchanting. He understood why he was doing so great at his previous profession. Wondering once again what had giving Shownu a change of mind. On the other side he was embarrassed to even move his feet after seeing Shownu dance like this. His friends always called his dance stinky. _How could he even dare to dance like this in front of a professional?_

Suddenly he saw Shownu snapping his fingers in front of his face " I guess I did an amazing job" the newbie smirked. Kihyun snapped out of his trance.

"I have to admit you did but the song is over you still want to dance?" he asked. Shownu shook his head and they went back to the bar where the bar keeper was waiting for them.

He gave them a note with some numbers "1257133255“. Both looked at him perplexed.

"What is this?" Kihyun asked eagerly because it reminded him of their code in the case.

"I saw him dancing" the bar keeper pointed at Shownu "He is good and there is a dance battle next week here, but it will be exclusive you can only enter with the code"

"You have to give this number combination to enter or?" Shownu asked to get it clear and now it was the bar keepers turn to look at them perplexed.

" You don’t know the students decoding? Fuck aren’t you students"

"We are transfer student we aren’t familiar with this kind of things" Kihyun responded fast.

"Oh" the bar keeper answered warily "Anyways we students have a way to encode our message and we have a way to decode them. Only student know the tactic." he explained.

"And how are we going to decode it" Shownu asked.

"You have to find out yourselves but all I can say is keyboard" he got as answer.

* * *

Sitting in the car Kihyun called them in a group call and put it on speaker for Shownu to take part on the conversation. He could hear sighs when the other picked up the phone. Understandable it was already late.

“Jooheon and Changkyun we may have a hint for you how to decode the code” the leader announced.

“What really?” Jooheon exclaimed.

“Tell us” Changkyun added.

“We were at a student party today” Shownu explained and he could hear Minhyuk gasped.

“You were?” Minhyuk asked teasingly.

“As unofficial undercover mission” Kihyun said annoyed at the teasing.

“Sure” Minhyuk continued to tease but Wonho reminded them that there were more important things to talk about. Kihyun internally thanked Wonho for that and continued to explain what happened at the party.

“Anyways the bar keeper gave us a code as ‘tickets’ for another party. That code reminded me of our case code”

“What’s the code you got?” Hyungwon asked.

“1257133255”

“Interesting”

Kihyun carried on with his explanation “Anyways he told us that this was the way students secretly crypt their messages and only students know how”

Everyone peeked up at that “Did he told you how?” Jooheon asked.

“No” Shownu now said “But he told us keyboard as hint”

“Omg! I am so stupid” Jooheon groaned.

“What is it?” Wonho asked confused.

“The numbers equal the letters position on the keyboard”

Hyungwon now groaned too “Oh…That was simple”

“Yes, but now with smartphones it could be a qwertz, azerty, colemak and many more keyboard displays” the technical operator explained.

“Also, the case code was 21-9243138325223. If it’s the alphabet has 26 letters we have to figure out if one number equals 1 letter or 2 numbers equals 1 letter” Changkyun continued to explain.

“I don’t understand” Minhyuk voiced out and he knew that the others did not either.

“Let’s go with the normal alphabet. 21 in the code could be **u** or 2 equals b and 1 equals **a** ” 

  
“The same way we would have to proceed with the keyboard code. There are multiple keyboards and multiple ways to read the numbers” Jooheon said.

“How long will you need?” the leader asked.

“We will finish it by tomorrow”

“What about the interview?” Minhyuk asked.

“We could do it after we cracked the code” Shownu suggested and Hyungwon agreed with him.

“But the question is” Shownu said “If we figured it out correctly and the students decode method works on our cases code why did none of the student reported it?”

Everyone took a while to think about the newbies question.

“Maybe they didn’t want to?” Wonho offered has response not sure himself.

“The content of the code wasn’t shared to the public maybe they didn’t think it was relevant” Kihyun said.

“I doubt that’s the reason” Wonho reasoned “even if they didn’t know what the exact code was, they could have thought that’s they could have helped with showing us their method”

“What are you thinking?”

“That one part of the students simply doesn’t care, and one part is scared to be next on the victim”

“That would support the warning theory” Hyungwon said.

“That sounds like some kind of conspiracy”

* * *

**Next** **day**

>   
>  **SN :** I will be late for work. Can you tell Kihyun ?
> 
> **HW:** Why don’t you tell him yourself?
> 
> **SN:** Because he will ask questions and I better deal with them when I arrive at work in the meantime tell him that I will be late
> 
> **HW:** What are you planning to do?
> 
> **SN:** I am visiting jail
> 
> **HW:** AGAIN? Are you crazy? You won’t find out anything new
> 
> **SN:** Its worth a try 
> 
> **HW:** Does it has to be today ? We are having a breakthrough in our case
> 
> **SN:** You know how important this is for me and if anything happens while I am away call me and I will be there as fast I can
> 
> **HW:** I know but you are getting no where and it keeps slowing you down 
> 
> **SN:** I need him to trust me. Me going there is gaining his trust
> 
> **HW:** You are not his attorney nor his relative. You shouldn’t even allow to visit him.
> 
> SN: I have my ways
> 
> **HW:** You are a police officer now! You can’t pull this
> 
> **SN:** It will be alright
> 
> **HW:** Uff okay I will tell him that you will be late but only bc I know how much it means to you
> 
> **SN:** Thanks, bro! love you :*
> 
> **HW:** Shut up and go to your jail visit 

* * *

He stood in front of the front desk waiting for the prison officer notice him. He came here once in a while. The officer finally noticed him and greeted him.

"Yo, Shownu you are back here again?" he asked giving the newbie a handshake. Shownu laughed at the man standing front of him. Big Matthew short BM was one of his students in his dance classes back in the days.

"As always Big Matthew" he responded "You have someone new here? " he pointed at the new face sitting on the computer.

"He is a newbie just like you. His name is Taehyung, but we call him J. Seph" Big Matthew replied and Shownu laughed again.

"You are really strong at giving nicknames"

The prison officer nodded proudly " Well I gave you yours too, Hyunwoo" emphasizing Shownu real name. Shownu rolled his eyes.

"I assume you are here to visit Choi Kyung-mo... Unofficially" he asked in a whisper.

Shownu nodded and whispered too " You have to be even more careful now that I am police officer"

BM rolled his eyes " I know I am risking my job too... I will bring you to him" 

After a while Shownu was sitting in front of the criminal divided by a transparent wall. BM standing in distant far enough for them two to talk privately but close enough to intervene. 

Kyungmo smirked " Looks who here to visit me...Pleasure" 

"The pleasure is definitely not on my side" Shownu huffed. 

"Didn't you tell me to trust you?" the criminal asked. 

"Yes, but we don't have to go so far to talk about pleasure" Shownu responded. 

"Awww, Hyunwoo are you still mad me for Winter 2016?" Kyungmo smirked. 

Shownu tried to hold in his anger " Cut the crap, tell me who gave you the order and who you are covering" 

"I said everything in court. I did not get any order and I am not covering anyone. I was doing a solo job" 

"This is not what I remember... I heard another voice back then... Who was it?" the new officer asked. 

The criminal crossed his arms in front of his chest " And I already told you every time you come here. There was no other person. You were traumatized. You can’t remember clearly"

Shownu wasn’t crazy. He remembered clearly there was another person with Kyungmo back then. 

"Aren't you tired of being their marionette? You are here in jail while they are running around free" Shownu hissed angrily " Was you admitting to me that someone ordered you a hallucination too?" 

"We have been through this Hyunwoo I just wanted to save my ass."

Even though Shownu had heard these statements every time he came here it still perplexed him. 

"Do you realize that someone is dead? Do you realize that you are here for murder when someone else killed her?" Shownu almost yelled.

"Do you know that I am preventing more death like this?" Kyungmo challenged and Shownu looked at him confused. That sentence was new. 

"What do you mean?" he asked. 

"Let it be, Hyunwoo" Kyungmo said "It’s safer this way. For me and you" 

"I am a police officer now. I can protect us" Shownu said hoping that would make the criminal speak. 

" That makes things even more dangerous. Not everyone on the good side is truly good, Hyunwoo" Kyungmo warned. 

"What do you -" Shownu asked confused but was interrupted by BM who told him that visiting hours were over. Kyungmo made no efforts to answer Shownu questions and was brought back while Shownu left the room.

_Did Kyungmo just confirmed Shownu theory that more people were involved in the Winter 2016 incident? And what did he meant by "not everyone on the good side is truly good" ? He couldn't possibly mean the police force?_ That was not possible. No way....

* * *

Kihyun was sitting on his table writing a report on their unofficial undercover mission at the student party. Jooheon and Changkyun were almost done with cracking the code. Everyone was there working on the case beside Shownu who still hasn’t arrived which surprised the leader.

Hyungwon walked by so he decided to ask him if he knew anything.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that he will be late today but he should be there soon" Hyungwon said looking on his watch. Kihyun nodded and took the info in. Hyungwon went back to his desk when Kihyun’s phone started ringing.

"Hello, Lead Officer Yoo. Whom am I speaking too?" he said.

"Hello, this is officer Kim Taehyung from Seoul Prison" the man on the other line responded.

"Seoul Prison?" the team leader asked curiously.

"Yes, one of your officer Son Hyunwoo left his badge here"

"Are you sure that’s his?" Kihyun said wondering why his badge would be there.

"Yes. I called you because I couldn't reach him so I thought I should call his team leader "

"He was there just now?" Kihyun asked. 

"Yes. He visited a prisoner called Choi Kyungmo" officer Kim replied. That was no one the team worked on especially Shownu who only had one closed case since he started. _Was that guy Kyungmo his relative?_

"His relative? " 

The officer on the other side didn't said anything for a while probably checking his papers " He isn't listed as relative. He must have visited as officer, but it’s not noted here yet my colleague must have forgotten. So, Officer Son must come back to sign his visitation anyways"

_So Shownu went there unofficially? He had no related case to Kyungmo and he wasnt related to him!? Why was he there then?_ He had to find out but that was something he to clear up internally. 

" I will tell him. Thank you, officer, Kim" he said before hanging up. After a moment Shownu came him. Kihyun did not beat around the bush. 

"We have to talk privately" 

Shownu looked at him confused but before he could reply Jooheon bursted in. 

"We decoded the message"


	5. One Step Closer

Kihyun and Shownu followed Jooheon to the whiteboard. The others were already curiously waiting for the reveal.

"You cracked it?" Wonho asked excitedly and Jooheon nodded proudly.

"We learned from Showki that there is a decoding tactic used by SNU students by using a keyboard" Jooheon said and Kihyun rolled his eyes because of the name for him and Shownu. " As I explained they are many keyboards, but we are pretty sure that a qwertz keyboard was used"

Changkyun nodded " That’s the first important information. Secondly the code does not divide the numbers. So, we had to try some combination and ended up with this 21- 9|24|3|13|8|3|25|22|3"

"Now we have look what letter stands on the position given by the number. So, we count throughout keyboard until 21 and find x on that position. At position 9 we find o, 24 is b, 3 is e and we can go on like this." Jooheon explained to his colleagues who were attentively listening.

" At the end you should get x- obedience" Changkyun concluded.

" x-obedience?" Kihyun asked confused.

"The x probably means no... So, no obedience hence disobedience" Hyungwon explained.

" So, they were abducted because they disobeyed?" Wonho asked but it was more like a statement.

"Disobeyed whom?" Shownu questioned and everyone shrugged.

"To be honest I am getting organized crime vibes from this. Gangs, secret societies and even fraternities could be involved" Minhyuk explained "All of the groups have in common that they value community, loyalty, and obedience extremely high. People going against these principles are often punished. Kidnapping could be a punishment. Punishment are not only there to punish the person who did wrong but also to warn others that misbehaving comes with consequences"

"I had a feeling" Shownu exclaimed "So the note is a warning for other members..."

Jooheon nodded " But why has it always been freshmans? Do other members don't misbehave?"

"It probably has something do with the fact that they are new recruits.... Punishment for newbies are maybe more severe" Hyungwon thought about it and Wonho agreed with him " But are they still alive? Would they go as far to kill them?" 

"Depends on how strong their beliefs are but if they wanted to kill them they would have done it immediately especially to give a stronger warning since they abducted them instead I don’t think that there is any interest in killing them" Minhyuk remarked "I think they are more on re-educating and brainwashing them"

"Okay so they should be alive?" Changkyun questioned the expert but Minhyuk shook his head. 

"Not necessary. Although I believe that they do not intended to kill them we don’t know on which condition they are held captive. They could have died due to poor conditions" he explained. 

"Years of torture can kill you. So, time is an important factor. " Shownu mumbled. 

"We need to find out with what we are dealing with. Maybe the interview will tell us more" 

* * *

Everyone went back to work when Kihyun called Shownu to a more private room.

"What did you do at the prison?" Kihyun asked and Shownu looked at him shocked. How could he possibly have found out?

"I don't know what you are talking about" he replied defensively which was making Kihyun angry.

"Stop lying. I got a call... you forgot your badge there" Kihyun half yelled. Shownu was taken back. _How could he forget it?_ Kihyun understood that he was right then.

"Why do you visited Choi Kyungmo?" he continued to ask.

"I can’t tell you" the newbie replied in a mumble.

"You can’t tell me?" Kihyun asked in disbelief "You are not his relative and you have no authorization to see him! How the fuck did you even get to see him?"

"I have my ways"

Kihyun was really getting annoyed by this conversation "You told me to trust you, but you did something like this. Should I just blindly trust you when you are going against protocols? Are you aware in how much bullshit you put me in if someone finds out...? The least you can do is tell me what the fuck is going on"

"I can’t Kihyun...." the newbie said. He could not tell him. Not now...

Kihyun growled "So you expect me to cover you up?"

Shownu nodded.

"Why should I?" Kihyun asked "huh?"

Shownu shorten the distance between them " I know we only have been partners for couple of days but do it because I am your partner... I am doing this to get answers to some questions"

Kihyun saw his sincerity in his eyes and was conflicted "Why don’t you just tell me and we figure it out together?"

"It may be dangerous... I don’t want to drag you into this mess" Shownu said sternly.

"If it’s dangerous you shouldn't be doing this alone Shownu..." Kihyun sighed perfectly knowing that there was no way to get it out of him now. "Is it a mission?" he knew that officers could get assigned to missions sometimes that they couldn't share with anyone but Shownu shook his head.

"It’s unofficial and personal" Shownu admitted with his head down.

Kihyun sighed once again "This can get you in real trouble, Shownu... Is it really worth it?"

"It is" he replied shortly but honestly. For the third time of the day the younger sighed.

"Okay... I will trust you" he finally said. "But at the first sight of danger you are informing me, or I won’t cover you"

Shownu gratefully thanked his leader. 

Hours later the team assembled again for a briefing.

  
“While Showki was having some sexy time in the office the other members actually worked” Minhyuk said grinning earning a glare from Kihyun.

“Showki is that our team name now? Like Hyungwonho? “Shownu said eyebrows frowned.

Changkyun laughed at that “Hyungwonho is not a team name it’s a ship name”

Shownu could not really understand what they meant only to be explained that the whole team rooted for Hyungwon and Wonho to get together.

“They are practically already dating” Jooheon said with a wink which surprised Shownu even more.

“Why haven’t you told me, Hyungwon?”

Wonho sighed that the teasing of his colleagues “They are playing with you ! Don’t listen to them”

“Why do we always end up talking about other things than work?” Kihyun said annoyed “This is a work zone”

“Why are we the ones working while you are having fun with Shownu hyung?” Minhyuk said with a fake pout.

“It was work” Kihyun yelled.

“Sure” Minhyuk said teasingly “Anyways I interviewed all of the roommates and they all kept tight, but I noticed they all gave the same pattern of answers”

Wonho frowned his eyebrows at the new piece of information “They planned what to say?”

“Yes, they never thought about answering they answered right away which is surely an indicator” Minhyuk explained further.

“Why would you plan what to say?”

“That happens a lot when you are scared to spill something that you shouldn’t. You plan to the detail what to say” Hyungwon tried to explain.

“But they aren’t stupid … if we are dealing with organized crime, they wouldn’t have made it so obvious for us to notice” Jooheon said a little bit confused.

“They don’t care if we figure it out. They figured out that we suspect them anyways. Them seemingly planning their answers ahead of the interview only reinforce our thoughts but doesn’t give us any solid evidence” Minhyuk clarified.

“Its not enough to get them…”

“So, we have nothing” Wonho said frustrated.

“Don’t be negative” Kihyun tried to cheer up his team. “We have to reinforce our findings. We have to dig deeper. There has to be a hole”

“If we are dealing with organized crime there won’t be any. Kihyun, lets be realistic” Hyungwon said doubtful. He knew how hard organized crimes cases were to solve.

“What about an undercover mission?” Shownu suggested.

“But the suspects all know us?” Wonho reminded them. They needed someone who was unknown to them.

“They haven’t seen Changkyun, right?” Kihyun said. Wonho looked at him with widened eyes. They really thought about sending Changkyun into an undercover mission. Wonho did not really like the idea.

“Changkyun? Undercover?”

“He is an officer too” Minhyuk said as a matter of fact. Changkyun wasn’t only a forensic scientist but also a trained police officer.

“But he hasn’t been working in that area for a while” Wonho said worried. Despite his training Changkyun has mostly worked as forensic scientist. His knowledge on that field was always more needed until now. “An undercover mission is dangerous”

“Well then, we have to do our best that his cover doesn’t blow up”

Changkyun who has been silently following that part of the conversation gave the caring officer a reassuring smile. “Hyung! I am trained for this”

“Okay but we are only doing this if we plan this meticulously. He cannot show that he is investigating. Traitors usually receive the strongest punishment” Minhyuk warned the others.

“So how are we doing this?” Hyungwon asked and Kihyun nodded.

“I have to speak to Chief Wang first and then we can start planning”

“I don’t like this” Wonho said pouting.

“Me too but we have other choice” Minhyuk admitted.

“I can do this!” Changkyun said confident.

* * *

Everyone had already left the office and Kihyun was the only one left finishing up. Despite telling Shownu that he would trust him he still had his doubts. _What was it that he was privately investigating? So far to dismiss protocols and risk his job? Was that the reason he became a police officer? Only so he could use his status to do better investigations?_

Kihyun couldn't just sit there and wait for Shownu to tell him. He should at least get a view on the situation. He should be prepared if something happens. Even if it were just to cover Shownu up he should have a general knowledge on the situation. He should know what he is covering up.

Kihyun opened the police database and typed in Choi Kyungmo's name hoping to find his case file.

And he could find one but to his surprise the whole report was censored except of Choi Kyungmo's name and the date which was in December 2016. The day was censored too.

Kihyun thought of the day he was in the hospital with Shownu where he mumbled something about Winter 2016. _What it related to this case? What was Shownu's role in that case?_ Many questions were running through the leaders’ head but he couldn't find answers by himself unless Shownu told him. The case was censored.

Kihyun closed the file and continued the work he was doing. After a time, he suddenly received a message.

  
**"Stop snooping into that file. You should be careful from now on" by Unknown**

  
Kihyun looked at the message in shock his mind racing to Shownu. _Was he the one warning him? Why would he text him like this from a different number? Threatening him? Or was it someone else?_ Shownu mentioned that it could be dangerous. _But who? How would they know that he was on the case?_

No matter what or who it was Kihyun needed to talk to Shownu now. He looked up Shownu’s address, closed everything and grabbed his car keys to go there.

  
Meanwhile Shownu informed Hyungwon that Kihyun had found out about his visited to prison and the fact that he still hadn’t told the leader what it was about. His best friend strongly advised him to come clean to the leader. He could need the help and after all he was his partner. Not only that Kihyun was responsible for Shownu. Hyungwon was convinced that the leader should know so when things would get risky for Shownu he could plead for the new officer. Shownu wasn’t that pleased by the advice still claiming that it was his private issues but the other officer was quick to remind him that he was illegally using police resources to get answers to his past. If that ever comes out Kihyun would still be the one responsible hence why it was only fair for him to know what’s going on. Even though Shownu seemed to doubt if Kihyun was trustable Hyungwon could assure the newbie that their team leader was trustable as long Shownu was willing to share his story.

* * *

Shownu thought about his conversation with Hyungwon when someone violently banged on his door. He rushed to open the door and to his surprise he found Kihyun standing in front of it.Like always the younger didn't beat around the bush and stepped into the apartment shoving his phone into Shownu's face.

**"Stop snooping into that file. You should be careful from now on" by Unknown** Shownu read.

"What is this?" Shownu asked confused closing the door that was wide open since Kihyun arrived. 

"Was it you? Are you threatening me for questioning your past? For finding out that you visited Choi Kyungmo?" Kihyun asked upset. 

"What? No! I would never do that" Shownu exclaimed.

"Then what is this? You told me today, once again, that I shouldn’t mind your business" Kihyun said. 

"I told you to trust me! Why should I threaten you then?" Shownu said and Kihyun just shrugged.

"What happened exactly?" Shownu continued mentioning for Kihyun to sit down. 

Kihyun sat down and explained Shownu everything.

Shownu couldn't believe it "I told you to let it be. See where we are now" 

"Do you know who did this?" Kihyun asked now convinced that it wasn’t Shownu.

"I don't know" Shownu said frustrated. 

"Can tell me what all of this is about? Why is it so dangerous? How is that tied to you?" Kihyun asked. 

"I can't. Haven't you seen? You are already threatened" 

"I perfectly can take care of myself also it seems like I am already in with one foot so just tell me everything. We will figure out together" Kihyun said reassuring the newbie.Shownu took a deep breath recalling his talk with Hyungwon. 

"Okay but this stays between us" Shownu warned and Kihyun nodded excitedly. 

"So, in December 2016...."


	6. Identities

„I was held hostage „he revealed.

„What? There is nothing about that in your file? Kihyun said surprised.

That was important piece of information because that would mean that he has been through therapy which had to be noted at every police officers file.

„That’s the point the whole report is censored “Shownu explained.

„I saw that when I checked the report. But why?“ the team leader asked.

Shownu ignored the fact that Kihyun had looked through the report. He had excepted it when Kihyun showed up at his apartment.

„I don’t know. That’s what I am trying to find out” the newbie said sighing.

„I can you tell me the whole story? “ Kihyun asked and Shownu nodded

„It was in Winter 2016 I just finished giving my last dancing class, closing up the studio when one of my students came back. She had forgotten her purse so she ask me to open the dressing rooms. I was helping her when we were ambushed by two people who held us hostage. It became very clear that I was the actual target as they demanded the money from my family. “Shownu explained.

„Your dad is a local politician, right? “Kihyun asked.

„Yes and my mom owns a make-up brand. So I understand why anyone would demand money from them because they have enough of it… Anyways I was the actual target and my student was just the collateral damage for them. “Shownu said sadly and Kihyun had the urge to reach out for his hand to comfort him but he let it be.

" We were held hostage for about 3 days until my dad paid the money but something went wrong the second kidnapper kind of lost his mind and started harassing my student to the point that he pushed her and hit her hard so hard that… she died“ Shownu continued tears falling. "She was killed just before we were able to obtain freedom…. I was the target but she died“.

Kihyun now gave up and reached out for Shownus hand to comfort him.

„It wasn’t your fault. The people who did that are at fault“ he told him.

„I tried to tell myself that but I still have that imagine in my head and it should be me instead.“

Kihyun moved Shownus head in his direction but Shownu lowered his gaze.

"Look at me“the team leader ordered and the newbie finally rose his gaze looking at Kihyun."But it wasn’t you. The things that happened are horrible but you are still alive and should appreciate that. Don’t blame yourself for things that are out of your control“ he said while caressing Shownus hand.

Shownu had heard these words multiple times. From his family, Hyungwon and at therapy it never really changed his view on the things but somehow Kihyun version was more comforting. It didn’t changed his thoughts right away but it made him think. He nodded signaling Kihyun that he had understood. He wiped his tears and took a deep breath.

„What does Kyungmo has to do with it? He is one of the culprits??“ Kihyun asked him still holding his hand.

„Yes they could find his DNA on my students body. They caught him and closed the case“ Shownu said surprised that Kihyun was still holding his hand.

„They closed the case but you said there was two kidnappers! What about the other one!?“

Shownu nodded „ They police said there was no trace of a second kidnapper. They only had communicated with one. There was no reason to investigate any further“

„What? “ Kihyun exclaimed „but you said that you heard two people. Shouldn’t that be enough reason to investigate it further?“

Shownu sighed "They say it must be the trauma and Kyungmo admitted that it was a solo job. I am sure about that though... they were having conversations in front of us and not only that they were getting orders from someone on the phone. Also it wasn’t Kyungmo who killed her it was the other one Kyungmo was angry that the other kidnapper that he had killed her but no one believes me. Not even my family…. How? Kyungmo’s testimony says the complete opposite of mine “

„Hey Shownu“ Kihyun said softly „ I believe you. I will help you find out what happened“

„How?“ Shownu said frustrated „ Do you believe that there was zero media attention for this case? The case is censored and the police isn’t following any hints?“

Kihyun sighed that was really odd „ We will find a way“ reassuring the older nevertheless.

Shownu now looked at the youngers eyes sternly “ Its dangerous. You saw what happened when you just tried to read the report and this time when I was at the prison to visit Kyungmo he said something odd“

Kihyun curiously looked at him mentioning him to continue.

„He said not everyone on the good side is truly good“

„You are not thinking that – that the police is involved right?“ Kihyun said perplexed.

Shownu groaned in frustration „I really don’t know but if that’s what he meant that we have huge problem“ 

Kihyun sighed perfectly knowing that a conspiracy in the police was definitely a possibility even if did not sit well with him „No matter what we are in this together. We are partners, right?“ caressing Shownus hand with his thumbs.

Shownu nodded and his eyes traveled to his hand staring at the odd scene in front of him. Kihyun noticed the action and removed his hands embarrassed. He looked at the clock avoiding Shownus gaze on him. 

„Wow its after midnight. I should really go home“ the team leader said trying to change the topic. He was standing up when Shownu grabbed his wrist. 

„Stay“ he said softly and Kihyun looked at him eyes widened.

„Excuse me?“ he asked.

Shownu cleared his throat and said „ Its already late and we have to show up at work extra early so why don’t you sleep here? I have a guest room. We could drive to work together tomorrow. “

Kihyun had to slightly blush at the thought of sleeping at the newbies apartment but he nodded nevertheless. He was too tired to drive back anyways.

„Okay I will get you one of my old pajamas “Shownu said letting go of Kihyuns hand standing up to go to his room. But he made a wrong move to stand up and stumbled taking Kihyun with him.

„Fuck“ both of them exclaimed at the same time. Shownu was laying on Kihyun. As usual he was taking his time to stand up.

„Damn Son“ Kihyun said annoyed „Move“

Shownu laughed „ You know that sounded quite R-rated with me laying on top of you “Kihyun rolled his eyes.

„ Gosh. Son, you are heavy. Stand up and shut up before I shot you“he said. 

„ Son? I thought we dropped the honorifics. You don’t even call me hyung“Shownu said while standing up. 

„Fuck you “Kihyun cursed Shownu laughed proceeding to do what he had planned. 

* * *

Minhyuk stormed into the office screaming “Alert! Guys Showki came to work together….Opps they are here”

Everyone snickered at Minhyuk antics.

“Lee Minhyuk” Kihyun growled and everyone winced. “What was that?”

Minhyuk didn’t answer but Hyungwon looked at the team leader and Shownu “You came in together?”

“We meet at the entrance” Kihyun said while Shownu answered “ Yes, he slept at my place”

“Who is lying now?” Changkyun asked curiously. Kihyun was in disbelief that Shownu had just exposed them.

“Shownu, you aren’t just clumsy but an idiot too” he said.

“Why don’t you ever call Shownu hyung, hyung?” Jooheon asked. Minhyuk groaned at Jooheons uninteresting question.

“Why did you sleep at Shownu hyung apartment!?” Minhyuk almost screamed too curious about what happened between the two partners.

Kihyun rolled his eyes “ None of your business… So I talked to Chief Wang and he gave us the okay for the undercover mission”

“You are really not answering the question! ?” Wonho said. Hyungwon looked at his best friend to get answers.

“Shownu hyung?” but the older just shrugged. 

“Its really none of your business, sorry”

Minhyuk huffed. He needed that new tea. “They won’t tell us but I smell a new couple”

Jooheon looked at the older confused. “ A new one? Who else is dating?”

“Hyungwonho” Changkyun replied and Jooheon just nodded. Wonho and Hyungwon just shook their heads. They have been too tired to deny it. No one would believe them anyways.

“Changkyun will get a new identity and join the class of the previous victims roommate” Kihyun continued with the case.

Jooheon crossed his arms frowning his eyebrows “ How can we be sure that he will be recruited? Don’t they recruite at the beginning of the semester? “

“Its not about the semester start” Hyungwon explained “Whenever there are new students they are a possible target.”

Minhyuk nodded “ Also Changkyun needs to be a little bit passive aggressive to get noticed by them. I will work on a persona that will attract them”

Wonho was worried. Very worried about all of this. “Min, I need you to be extra careful. We need a persona that is close to Kyuns real self”

“Sure” Minhyuk replied confident. He looked at Jooheon “ Ready to make fake identities? “

“That’s the favorite part of my job” he said excited.

“Changkyun I need you to have a talk with our office therapist and have a crash course on undercover missions with Wonho and Hyungwon” Kihyun ordered.

Changkyun sulked he didn’t want to talk with the office therapist. “Can’t I talk to Min hyung?

“No” the team leader said firmly. “Its protocol”

Changkyun groaned in annoyance.

* * *

Hyungwon and Wonho were sitting in one of the operation rooms waiting for Changkyun to finish his talk with the therapist. Hyungwon seemed to be lost in his thoughts which didn’t slipped his partner.

“Are you okay?” he asked concerned.

“Why shouldn’t I? “ Hyungwon said defensive. 

“You seem distracted and I know that you didn’t like what happened at the meeting”

Hyungwon sighed. There was nothing he could hide from his partner. “Its just annoying that he thinks that we are dating when I have been pinning on him since forever”

Wonho laughed at the ridiculous situation “ These three are all about the Hyungwonho agenda”

Hyungwon didn’t find it so assuming “It would be funny if I didn’t like him but he ships me with someone else”

“Well you never signaled him that you liked him. You are practically glued on me” Hoseok told him and the younger put his head down burring it in his arms.

“You are my partner. Do you hate spending time with me? “ He mumbled.

“No never! But I see why they think that we are dating. You have to show him that you are interested or at least that you are not interested in the me”

Hyungwon put his head back up his pout now visible to Wonho. “I tried telling him that we aren’t a thing multiple times he won’t believe me. Also if there was an spark of interest for me he wouldn’t ship us”

Wonho sighed “ You can’t know maybe he thinks he doesn’t have a chance”

Hyungwon shook his head “I don’t want to embarrass myself we still have to go to work afterwards, hyung”

“How long will you pin over him?”

“I should just give up”

“You said that a while ago but you still have a crush” Wonho said chuckling.

Hyungwon pouted “Why cant I just like you and we would be dating? “

“What makes you think that I would date you? “ Wonho said laughing. Hyungwon slapped the elders bicep.

“You are a bad partner you should have said that you would just to make me feel better”

“I am giving you a more powerful advice…Stop pinning and make a move. You are an amazing man. He would be idiot to not fall for you” Wonho advised the younger.

“You said you wouldn’t”

“Hyungwon!” Wonho scolded “Think about it”

“I will! “

“Good boy”

* * *

As soon they were alone Kihyun scolded his partner “Are you crazy?”

The new officer was confused “Wait why?”

“They will think something is going on between us” Kihyun replied nervously.

Shownu couldn’t understand his panic. “Well there is something going on between us.We are secretly solving a case”

Kihyun looked at him dumbfounded. _Is he stupid or something?_ “Not that, idiot”

Shownu was getting more and more confused “What then? “

“That we are dating”

“Whaaaat ? Noo” Shownu exclaimed.

“Well that’s that they implied”

“Opps, I didn’t really pay attention”

“You said I slept at your apartment without further explanation ” Kihyun scolded “ Now they think we have a thing”

Shownu crossed his arms defensively “Well I couldn’t explain that you were there for a secret case”

“I just want to say that we need to be more careful with this going on. I don’t want to be the talk of the police force. We aren’t driving to work together ever again”

“What if you sleep at my place again? “

“Why should that happen? “ Kihyun asked eyebrows frowned.

Shownu just shrugged changing the topic “By the way first I saw you all dressed up and now I saw you in my pj in the morning. You looked cute the absolute opposite of the fierce leader. I even took a picture” he giggled.

“WHAT ”Kihyun yelled “YOU DIDN’T”

Shownu pulled out his phone showing him a picture of the sleeping leader.

“Oh my God you really did” Kihyun exclaimed. 

“Be nice from now on because I have something on you”

“I am nice”

“You wanted to shoot me today ”Shownu reminded the shorter.

“Because you are heavy and taking your damn time to stand up” Kihyun groaned.

Shownu chuckled “Still no reason to shoot anyone, Lead Officer Yoo”

“You know what!? “Kihyun said “ I like shy and clumsy Shownu more. Cheeky Shownu is annoying”

“Well deal with it. You make me especially cheeky” Shownu said with a wink. Kihyun rolled his eyes.

“Go back to work” Kihyun ordered.

“You were the one starting this conversation”

“Go!”

“Bye, sleeping cutie” Shownu fled laughing.

* * *

They had finally completed all the things for Changkyun undercover mission.

“His alias is Daniel Im. That’s the name he used overseas so we thought that it would be easy for him to get used to it. His age and back story will remain the same. He will be a science student and take the same class as Park Jihyo, Sejeongs roommate.” Minhyuk explained.

“She is the one who has the most similarities with Kyun and it would be easy for them to become friends” Shownu added.

Jooheon nodded giving Changkyun his ID, student ID and his time table. Changkyun grabbed it nervously looking at it. It was his first undercover mission. He was scared to blow up his cover and not only get him but other people in danger too.

Wonho saw Changkyun hesitation and patted his shoulder “You did well during our crash course. You will manage”

“Also Wonho hyung and Hyungwon will look out for you from far” Kihyun reassured the younger. To which he nodded.

“Important is don’t ask to many questions but be healthy curious. You have to seems like someone who likes to try out things” Minhyuk said.

“ Be friendly and try to enter Jihyo circle as soon as possible” Shownu advised him.

“I will give you an in- ear and a phone. That’s the phone you are going to use for the friends you will make during the mission. There will be a secret message app. That’s the only app on which you will message us. Try to use it as less as possible. You can brief Hyungwonho on meetings every Sundays. They will brief us then. “Jooheon told him and Changkyun took in all the information.

“Most importantly if it gets too dangerous… Pull out of the mission. No need to play hero” Hyungwon warned him.

“Understood” Changkyun said.

“That’s it. Go and rest you will have your first day the day after tomorrow. Wonho and Hyungwon will go through everything with you in detail tomorrow. Good Luck. I believe in you. Don’t get hurt!” Kihyun finally said dismissing everyone but Shownu once again.

Shownu looked at him confused.

“ I have to talk to you” the team leader said.

“About what?” Shownu frowned his eyebrows.

Kihyun verified if everyone had truly left before continuing “ It about your case… I thought about it and there is something I want to investigate but I need you’re your approval first” he finally said.

Shownu was very confused “ Why would you need my approval?”

“It’s a about your family or to be precise about your father.”


	7. Office Romance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder: This case is inspired by bunch of cases from books, series and from law school. General warning for violence and graphic description.

Changkyun has been on the mission for more than a week now.

“Wonho and Hyungwon. I have not heard any updates from you about Kyun these days” Kihyun said walking into the main hall.

“We are literally working on something right now can’t you wait until we are finished” Hyungwon said rolling his eyes.

Kihyun crossed his arms “I need you it now. I want to submit the weekly report to Wang. So, any updates?”

“No?” Minhyuk said passing by.

“Is he okay though?” Shownu said from his table.

“He is” Wonho assured his colleagues.

“And?”

“He is now friends with Park Jihyo, Sejeong roommate” Hyungwon reported and Wonho continued “ He hasn’t noticed anything suspicious yet but we can confirm that all roommates of the victims are not just connected but actually friends”

“So, we are right? They must be the culprits” Jooheon asked and Kihyun shook his head.

“We have no evidence for that”

“But there is no way that this is a coincidence” Minhyuk said.

“For sure not but we need evidence”

“I am sure that as more he enters their circle the more, he can find out” Kihyun said confident. He had to be confident this was their only lead.  
Jooheon was worried “He is safe right? He is none of their roommates. He doesn’t fit the profile of the victims, right?”

“We don’t know if just being their roommate is the criteria to be victim”

“Exactly” Kihyun agreed with Shownu “It could be enough to be connected to them in anyway. Being their roommate could just make everything easier”

Jooheon sighed worried “ So we still know nothing and he could be in danger”

Minhyuk patted the younger on the shoulder in order to comfort him “This how undercover missions work. They take time and we cant always guarantee the safety of the undercover officer”

“Sadly…but we will keep an eye on the situation” Wonho said.

“We will pull him out if it gets too dangerous” his partner added.

“Thanks guys. I will submit that to Wang then.”

“I will leave for a moment. I have to go to the bank” Minhyuk announced and left after getting the team leaders approval.

* * *

Kihyun came back from submitting the report to Wang only finding Hyungwon, Wonho, Shownu and Jooheon in the main hall.

"Where is Minhyuk?" he asked frowning his eyebrow. Everyone shrugged their shoulders.

"Didn't he say that he is going to the bank!? " Jooheon mentioned.

"Yeah but he should be back by now" Wonho said.

"I swear some of you will get extra hours if you keep being late" Kihyun said slightly irritated. He valued punctuality a lot. In that moment Jooheon received a notification on his PC. 

"Oh fuck" the tech exclaimed. Everyone looked at him.

"What is it, Jooheon?" Shownu said moving towards Jooheon to see what notification he received.

"Minhyuk hyung... He sends out code red" Jooheon said astonished.

"What?" everyone exclaimed.

"He isn't on field though" Wonho said confused.

"He may have stumbled across something or was attacked" Hyungwon mentioned while trying to call Minhyuk "He isn't picking up"

"What now?" Wonho said slightly nervous. He hoped the reason for Minhyuk not picking up the phone was not because he was wounded or already dead in some alley. The fact that he was able to send out code red was a good sign, right?

Shownu patted Jooheon shoulder" Can you locate his phone? " Jooheon nodded and got to work immediately. Not even 2 minutes later he was done. 

"I got something"

"Where is he?" Kihyun asked. 

"The SN Bank 2 blocks away from here" Jooheon said and Hyungwon looked at the screen to get a better view. 

"Jooheon, check the news" he commanded the younger "It may be a bank robbery"

Jooheon scanned news report almost finding nothing besides a little article mentioning a possible robbery in a bank. 

"Seems like it’s too early to be reported but I think Hyungwon hyung is right" Jooheon remarked.

"I am trying to find out if the case has reached the agency" Kihyun said pulling out his phone to make some calls. 

"Jooheon can you try hacking into the cctv system of them bank I am having a bad feeling" Hyungwon said. Jooheon started working while the others starred at Hyungwon. 

"What are you thinking Hyungwon?" Shownu asked him. Hyungwon nervously scratched his head " Minhyuk send out red code more than 5 minutes ago. Bank robberies don’t take that long. It should be over by now and we would have gotten an update by now" 

Wonho looked at him shocked "Are you assuming that it’s not a simple bank robbery?" 

"That’s exactly what I am saying" Hyungwon responded. 

"What are we dealing with then?" Jooheon asked "I can't access the cctvs. It seems like they are destroyed" 

"Damn it" Shownu exclaimed right in that moment Kihyun came back looking pissed. 

"Looks like Minhyuk got involved in a bank robbery. 5 robbers they have been in there for more than 10 min and have held everyone in there hostage. The unit for hostage cases are working on it" 

"Why do you look so frustrated?" Shownu asked him. 

"I told them that we have an officer in there and that we want to get involved but they are not letting us" Kihyun said rolling his eyes. 

"What?" Hyungwon exclaimed " We have a man in there. It’s an unwritten rule that the team with an officer in gets the right to help the operating team" 

" We all know that Kihyun is respected but not liked by the other team leaders. They are probably being extra strict with him" Wonho said crossing his arms. 

"Urggh maybe if Kihyun wasn't so grumpy all the time we would already have the okay to help them" Hyungwon said annoyed. 

"Hyungwon" Wonho warned. 

"What are we doing now boss? We can't leave it all to them" Jooheon asked and everyone looked at the team leader. 

"What do you are thinking?" Kihyun said with a smirk "We are going there and investigating ourselves"

* * *

They arrived at the crime scene with good distance from the operating team. They sat in a van with all of Jooheon gadgets and weapons for the on-field team.

"This is definitely not a normal bank robbery it has been more than 20 minutes now" Shownu said "What is our next move we don’t know what’s happening in there and the operating team won’t tell us either"

Kihyun thought about it a little bit " Joo! Hack into Minhyuk phone and force him to accept our call maybe we will get an impression of what is happening. Also try to get info from the operating team server."

Jooheon looked at the team leader with a chuckle " Are you asking me to hack into the police system? " and the team leader nodded.

"Be discreet" Wonho said. 

Shownu frowned his eyebrow at the team tactics " Wont we get in trouble for that?"

"I will deal with that when we get caught" Kihyun answered.

"But we won’t" Hyungwon said confidently. Jooheon laughed at that " The IT guy from the hostage team isn’t as good as me he won’t find out...and I am in. I can’t hear anything clear from the phone call"

"What about the server?" Wonho asked.

"It seems like they are making some hostage deals with the robbers but it’s not noted here what they want" Jooheon said.

" We still have nothing" Hyungwon said frustrated.

Kihyun ignored "Can you see if they have identified the culprits?"

"They have... they are 5 members of a 6 membered group Lux that are known for dealing with stolen goods of all kinds" Jooheon explained.

"Only 5 of them where is the sixth member!?" Wonho asked.

"The sixth member was their leader and is in jail the others came out recently" Jooheon continued.

"Remember how Hyungwon said that this can’t be a normal bank robbery case? What if this is about the leader?" Shownu remarked and everyone thought about it.

"Like they are trying to get out their leader in exchange of host-" just when Wonho tried to speak Jooheon exclaimed "Guys!"

"What Jooheon?" Kihyun said his head hurting from the lack of progress.

"Minhyuk hyung has noticed that we hacked his phone.... He said they have bombs, but I think the robbers heard him. The line cut off. The phone is destroyed.... I am scared" He said in terror everyone halted.

"Fuck we are running out of time" Hyungwon said hands running through his hair.

"Guys! I have another idea.... They are probably trying to get their leader out of prison but not through a deal" Shownu mentioned and everyone listened carefully "I am not sure anymore but I remember that the Seoul Prison was built above the underground way."

Kihyun understood what he meant. It might be a breakout action from the Prison for their leader. The whole bank robbery and hostage situation might be distraction. "Are you sure?" he asked the newbie who nodded.

"Jooheon check Seoul’s old underground plans."

Jooheon figured out that the bank safe room was right above a way that leads right under the Seoul Prison. They figured that out, so they probably took so much time in the Bank to make the way accessible for them meaning that the bombing was probably false threat. They didn't have anything besides these deductions if they were wrong this could cost many people lives. 

"Wonho grab your shotgun and find a way in" Kihyun ordered.

"What about the snippers of the operating team?" Hyungwon asked.

"We want an advance so please find a way in this underground system. The operating team is more trained at getting the hostages out there sound and safe. They will probably agree to their deal and deal with catching the criminals later but I want them caught now. I am clear. " Kihyun explained and everyone nodded.

Kihyun ordered Jooheon to keep a track on deal while Wonho and Hyungwon were assigned to stop the criminals to go through with their plan. Shownu and Kihyun stayed at the van operating during the whole plan. Soon deals were made between the criminals and the operating team asking them to provide them a way to flew. The van should be left at the place that was far from the Bank confusing the operating team. 10 hostages were released for the deal no one of them being Minhyuk. Time was running and the criminals were at the highlight of their plan having access to the underground and a way to start their breaking out plan for their leader. Leaving the hostage alone they started their plan. Minhyuk who was slightly wounded by the criminals took care of the hostage until the bomb team had make sure that everything was safe and they were able to free them.  
Hyungwon and Wonho were able to surprise the criminals at the Prison having a little show down with them ending with X-Ray capturing the criminals. They got a lot of trouble for getting involved in an operation that wasn’t theirs and for not sharing their information with the operating team but in the end everyone was safe.

* * *

After Minhyuk got checked up by the medical team Hyungwon offered him to drive him home since Minhyuk got two days free to recover physically and mentally. Both were sitting in the car music was lowly playing in the background. No one was talking enjoying the silence until Minhyuk finally spoke up.

"Do you think we can find love?" Minhyuk asked Hyungwon. Hyungwon looked at him surprised.

"I guess so..." he answered. Minhyuk laughed bitterly.

"I understand why office romances are strictly forbidden in the police force. My lovers mind would be clouded if I was in danger and if they are on the operating team this could mean a mess if you have a lover outside of work you can distance them from all the gruesome we meet almost daily... But our job makes it hard to meet people outside of our profession" Minhyuk said sadly. Hyungwon understood what he meant seeing the person that you loved getting hurt and you being the person who can save them could be a big problem especially since you have to stay rational but he saw the advantages too.

"There are advantages in dating colleagues though. They understand the secrecy, the working hours and you have your lover close. Also keeping our emotions out from cases that involves our loved ones being in danger is something we should learn anyways" Hyungwon remarked.

"That is only worth it if both truly love each other.... I don’t know if I want to be involved in crime and danger all the time and dealing with my lover being involved in that lifestyle too. I would worry all the time" Minhyuk explained his point of view.

Hyungwon did not know why this made his heart hurt maybe because he had a crush one of his colleagues. He knew the pain of worrying about someone he liked because they were on a dangerous mission or got involved in dangerous situations but that never crashed his hope of a healthy office romance.

"So, you don't believe it works?" Hyungwon said saddened by the thought. Minhyuk shook his head.

"I wouldn't want to risk it but that’s me... You and Wonho hyung will pull through" Minhyuk said with an encouraging smile. Hyungwon sighed at that. There was nothing between them.

"Me and Wonho hyung..." Hyungwon mumbled.

"Hmmm you guys look amazing together and I can see how much you care for each other. I can see it. Trust me I am an expert in human behavior" 

Hyungwon just hummed not correcting the other who was so sure of his observation. 

"I know I tease you two a lot, but I am wishing you two all the best" Minhyuk said with a big smile. 

Hyungwon forced a smile and continued his drive in silence.

* * *

Kihyun did not like his findings it was stressing him out. He hoped to find something about Mr. Sons rivals or enemy, but he found something concerning about the man himself.

  
Mr. Son was bankrupt before Shownu's was held hostage. _Where did he got the ransom money from then?? Friends? Police?_

Kihyun took a closer look on his finances finding something even more concerning.

" **18.6. 2000 :** Insurance for Son Hyunwoo in case of death. The insurance will guarantee a payment of 18 billion won in case of death of Son Hyunwoo to Son Hyunjin (father)"

  
" **20.10.2016 :** Son Hyunjin (father) has added hostage taking to insurance clause. Payment will be made to him. Value now 20 billion won."

  
Kihyun grew nervous this clause was made 2 months before Hyunwoo being held hostage. He had a bad feeling and hoped he was wrong about what he was thinking.

  
He then checked Mr. Sons finances after the case and noticed that exactly 20 billion won were invested in some new business helping the man out of bankruptcy but according to the court report Choi Kyungmo has never revealed were the money was. Kihyun knew that it was probably because the second culprit escaped with it. _So how did Shownus dad got hold of the same amount of money that was given to the culprits despite being bankrupt?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until here I had written it on twitter. So, from now on it will be brand new chapter. Honestly, I was not really satisfied with this chapter since I kinda rushed through the case. I hope it’s okay though.

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda rushed through our first case but it was just to introduce the characters. We will be introduced in the case that follows thorough the fanfiction in the next update.


End file.
